The Providential History Festival: It's Not Just for the Reformed!

The photo at left shows last weekend's Vital Signs Ministries literature table wonderfully placed under the wing of a World War II-era B-29 which rests in the Strategic Air and Space Museum's Restoration Room awaiting a new paint job. Claire and I were there for the 6th annual Providential History Festival created and sponsored by Biblical Blueprints. We enjoyed a spiritually adventurous two days listening to presentations by Dr. Marshall Foster, stirring speeches from home school students (and others) and music from a family "bluegrass gospel" group, the Wintons.

The Festival is growing larger and better every year, particularly with the addition of a special speaker on the schedule like Dr. Foster to elevate the intellectual value of the event. The amateur speeches and dramas have been quite good the last two years we have attended (I was always traveling outside the country the first few Festivals) and we have been not only informed and encouraged but inspired by them. But the inclusion of a notable professional (Next year will be Dr. E. Calvin Beisner) makes for a better and more engaging program still.

The attendees of the Festival have largely been drawn from the Reformed Reconstruction tradition which, as many of you know, Claire and I are not attached to. However, the event rightly deserves a much broader audience for the theme of providential history is extremely relevant and compelling to all Christians. And, make no mistake, the organizers of the Festival are keen to make the event welcoming, interesting and helpful to all. For example, among the booths that were invited to the Festival were Reformed groups like Biblical Blueprints, Dominion Covenant Church and others but also several groups with a more general range: Alliance Defense Fund, Bott Radio, Capitol Ministries, Voice of the Martyrs, Samaritan Ministries (an intriguing alternative to insurance plans) and Vital Signs.

No, the desire of the Festival organizers is to provide inspiration (as well as ongoing educational materials) to any and all believers who are looking to develop a thoroughly biblical worldview. They are thus providing a service that should be warmly embraced by the general Christian community in Omaha, Lincoln and surrounding areas. Come along next year and see for yourself.  The event is very well-organized; it is wholesome and family-friendly; the food is terrific; the costs are low; and the setting (that amazing Restoration Room of the SASM) is just superb. The Providential History Festival has become one of the highlights of our year. And I think it might become one of yours as well.

I'll keep you informed about the details of next year's program...including the opportunity to register early and save a lot in doing so.